Couple Find Strength In Home's Ashes

May 01, 2005|By KIM O'BRIEN ROOT Daily Press

HAMPTON — Newlyweds who lost their house to arson say it's a test that will make their marriage strong.

Just about 24 hours into their honeymoon cruise, floating somewhere in the Caribbean Sea and relaxing after the hectic pace that led up to the wedding, Anthony Williams and Shannon Gear Williams got a phone message that filled them with dread:

The bride immediately knew something was wrong. Her first thought was of her 11-year-old daughter, staying with her grandparents.

But no -- it was the Phoebus house Shannon Gear Williams had bought in September, the cozy, two-story home in which she and her new husband had chosen to start their life together. It had been set ablaze early Tuesday and now was nearly rubble.

The couple began the trip home. Still reeling from the news of the fire, they were waiting between flights when the second blow came. Anthony Williams' best man, his best friend for over a decade, had been arrested in connection with the fire.

Joseph T. "J.T." Overton now could face life in prison, accused of using homemade bombs -- Molotov cocktails -- to ignite the cappuccino-colored Yukon Street home. Fire investigators said they found a number of the spent bombs at the scene and uncovered information that pointed to Overton's Hampton apartment and to evidence in his car.

The Williamses felt shock then, and they feel shock now, they said Friday. It's the only word they can really use to express their emotions.

And they're still not really sure why it happened.

About a year ago, the couple said, Anthony Williams, 26, and Overton, 27, had a falling-out after Williams told Overton's wife what he said she already knew: That Overton had been cheating on her.

Despite that, the men patched up their friendship, which began when they were 14 and living next door to each other. When Williams decided to marry 32-year-old Shannon Gear, the daughter of Hampton Del. Tom Gear, he asked Overton to stand up with him.

"To me, it was old news," Williams said of the dispute. "He was my man."

Now, Williams said he still can't quite believe his friend has been charged with the crime. Leading up to the April 23 wedding at Phoebus United Methodist Church, nothing indicated that Overton was upset with him, Williams said. At the reception, Overton toasted the couple in front of nearly 200 guests, telling Williams he was glad he found someone to love and wishing the couple happiness.

Overton had a new job, as a pipefitter. Although separated from his wife -- she's now living with the couple's two toddlers in Kansas -- "he was a happy guy," Williams said. "Everything was fine with him. His life was looking good."

Court records show Overton spent time in jail several years ago for disobeying court orders to pay child support. An assault charge in 2003 is under advisement, providing that he stays out of trouble. That case is scheduled to be reviewed in October.

To Shannon Gear Williams, however, why the fire was set "doesn't matter." Their lives have been turned upside down. Thanks to insurance, they're in a rental home and their belongings will be replaced. But their memories, their photographs, are gone.

Their 5-year-old cat, Misty, still hasn't been accounted for and is likely gone. Any money collected from a BB&T Bank fund set up by the couple's friends will be donated in Misty's name to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

With the support of family, friends and the community, the couple said they're going to be OK. And in one sense, they said, it's already helped their marriage. Anthony Williams said he looks at his bride in a whole new way -- the two of them against the world.

"This will make us stronger," Shannon said.

"Hopefully, we'll get the unpleasant things out of the way early and it'll be all uphill from here. It's just a test -- that's the way we have to look at it." *